Carlsbad considers options for Alga Norte park

Carlsbad officials presented plans Tuesday for the long-awaited Alga Norte Community Park, which could be built in three to four years, they said.

City Council members held a workshop to discuss the park and give city planners direction on how they would like the 32-acre park to be built.

The council was shown four variations in design for the park, at Poinsettia Lane and Alicante Road, all of which include three ball fields, a skate park and swimming pools. They range in projected building costs from $35.6 million to $49.7 million. The money will come from the Capital Improvement Project fund.

Voters approved the swim complex component of the park in 2002 as part of Proposition C.

Some council members were clear that whichever project is selected, they want it to begin soon.

Councilman Keith Blackburn likened further delays to buying a computer.

I kept hearing “wait they’re going to get better,” Blackburn said. “If I was still waiting for them to get better I still wouldn’t have a computer.”

The council members narrowed the choices to two possibilities, and will discuss them further at another council workshop April 26. They will look at whether the choices are similar enough that they can begin work for the first phase of the project — the part that includes the pools — regardless of which option they eventually select.

The YMCA has expressed interest in operating the park, and estimated that it could be built to its liking for $45 million and operate the facility at no cost to the city, though Carlsbad staff estimated that building could actually cost $49.7 million. Other plans anticipated yearly operating costs of $430,000 to $1.26 million.

Both options to be considered have a competitive and an instructional pool.

The YMCA plan also included a day care facility, which several council members said they liked.

“If there is anything lacking in this city, even more than parks, even more than pool time, it’s a (day care) facility,” said Mayor Matt Hall.

The YMCA plan also includes a gym.

Susan Hight, executive director of the Magdalena Ecke Family YMCA in Encinitas, said it was willing to start construction the next day if given the go-ahead. She said more than 6,000 Carlsbad residents have joined the YMCA in Encinitas because there isn’t one in Carlsbad.

One of the options eliminated included a concession stand that would sell alcohol, which several members of the public and the City Council opposed.